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This is a reminder of the invitation to apply for the summer school “Religion in Cities: Contested Presences, Contested Regulations” that I am organising, with the support of CRCG and ISOR-UAB, at the University of Groningen (Netherlands) on August 20-24 2018.

The summer school addresses a topic that generates heated political debates and that is increasingly discussed in the social sciences. It will provide undergraduate students in their last year of studies, as well as Master and PhD students in different disciplines with the means to reflect upon religious issues in cities from the perspective of sociology, geography, urban studies and religious studies.

The topic will be addressed from three different stand-points: a) theoretical perspectives to understand the presence, visibility and regulation of religious diversity in cities; b) methodological insights into how to research these topics and conduct fieldwork in concrete urban settings; and c) discussions about the political relevance and policy responses offered at the level of cities.

Shanghai University David Musto Center for Drug Policy Studies would like to invite scholars who are interested in collaboration and students who would like to apply for PhD. or MA program at Shanghai University.

The aim of this summer school is to provide undergraduate students in their last year of studies, as well as Master and PhD students in different disciplines with the means to reflect upon religious issues in cities from the perspective of sociology, geography, urban studies and religious studies. The topic will be addressed from three different stand-points: a) a theoretical perspective to understand the presence, visibility and regulation of religious diversity in cities; b) methodological insights into how to research these topics and conduct fieldwork in concrete urban settings; and c) discussions about the political relevance and policy responses offered at the level of cities.

Fully-funded Ph.D in Progressive Localism: the search for new partnerships and forms of co-production between local authority, faith sector and third sector actors as a response to ongoing austerity, increased despair and inequality and decline in institutional resources and knowledge.

Three years full-time to start January 2018. The Ph.D scholarship is for a total of £25,170 over three years to cover fees (£4,195 p/a) and maintenance (£4,195 p/a).

2 – 3,000 words proposals are invited from prospective candidates to develop new critical thinking and empirical research around the concept of progressive localism in UK settings. The concept, devised by David Featherstone et al., recognises that policies of ‘Localism’ have been associated with pushing responsibility for policy and funding away from the centre to local authorities and settings, thus connecting localism with austerity and neo-liberalism. Yet localism has the potential – and track record – for driving genuinely empowered, localised resilience and flourishing. Progressive localism is ‘outward looking and creates positive affinities between places and social groups negotiating global processes. These affinity groups and networks are expansive in their geographical reach … and productive of new relations between places and social groups.’ (2011)

We are looking for innovative and empirically based research that critically tests out the ideas behind this concept, addressing issues of power and partnership, leadership and change management, the postsecular, co-production, performative apologetics etc. We are interested in how new policy landscapes create or inhibit an ‘outwards facing approach’ to working alongside increased diversity, as part of ethical and tactical approaches towards increased engagement, leading to new and sustainable forms and expressions of progressive localism.

The proposal should outline how the candidate would construct a research thesis on this area, addressing issues of research questions, methodology, public impact and publications. A bibliography should be submitted as an appendix.

Background

The Faiths and Civil Society Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London and William Temple Foundation have invested in five fully funded Ph.D studentships to explore the role and impact of religion and belief in modern British life. William Temple was Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1940s whose theological and political thought and leadership led to the creation the post-war universal and comprehensive welfare state (a phrase that he coined).

Both institutions are committed to critical, innovative and interdisciplinary research on trajectories in political, social and economic life, and policy. The new visibility of globalised religion within UK life, coupled with a steep rise of those who identify with ‘no-religion’ is a phenomenon of 21st century life, redefining key debates in public life; healthcare, education, law, community development, social cohesion, poverty and exclusion, human rights, wellbeing and flourishing.

Four William Temple Scholar studentships were awarded in September 2017. Students will co-design one public impact event each year highlighting their research, as well as contributing regular blogs and social media feeds for both FCSU and WT Foundation platforms.

Deadline for applications: 12 noon, 1st December, 2017.

Successful applicants will be called to interview on 12th December, 2017.

The Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at UVic offers fellowships ($5000 plus a private office for a year) to people in the thesis or dissertation phases of their graduate programs. Visits of less than a year are also possible.

These fellowships will allow students to be part of a vital interdisciplinary intellectual and social space in which they can focus on their writing. Over the last 25 years, we have been fortunate to host visiting graduate students from many other universities. Now, we are able to offer some funding to help support visiting students interested in completing their writing within a unique scholarly environment.

Most applicants would already have external funding from SSHRC or their home university. So, our funding would not cover all expenses, but it should make a significant contribution. The deadline for applications is the middle of November, 2017 and the fellowships would begin sometime after spring, 2018. ​

Starting April 1, 2018, the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne, the integrated graduate school of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Cologne, will again provide doctoral scholarships and doctoral fellowships. Both announcements might be of interest for researchers from the fields of religious studies, cultural studies or anthropology, from Germany and abroad alike. The application deadline for both announcements is November 03, 2017.

I send notice of the High Training School in Sociology of Religion, which will take place in Rome from 27 to 30 December 2017, in collaboration with the International Center for the Sociology of Religion (ICSOR) and the Section of Sociology of Religion of the Italian Sociological Association. Applications will expire on 30 September 2017. Participation is free of charge. For board and lodging at special prices see attachment.

I also attach the School’s provisional programme. The basic idea of SAFSOR is to make a review of the state of the art (as far as possible) of the sociology of religion, to propose some classics, to bring together young scholars, to offer some examples of research, to reflect on a theoretical level about the sociological approach to the religious phenomenon, to create communities among experts of the sector belonging to different generations.

The Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham seeks to appoint 1 Post-doctoral Research Fellow and to award 2 PhD studentships to work on the ERC-funded project ‘Creating an Alternative umma: Clerical Authority and Religio-political Mobilisation in Transnational Shii Islam (ALTERUMMA)’ project, led by Professor Oliver Scharbrodt. This interdisciplinary project investigates the transformation of Shii Islam in the Middle East and Europe since the 1950s. The project begins in January 2018 and will in the course of its five-year duration include four post-doctoral researchers and three PhD students.

The Research Fellow and PhD students will work on the first thematic area of the project which begins in January 2018. As part of this thematic area, the various ways in which Shii clerical authorities in Iran and Iraq have positioned themselves towards the modern nation-state are explored.